A fire tore through a passenger ferry off the western Philippines on Wednesday night, killing at least five people and leaving roughly 85 unaccounted for as search-and-rescue efforts continued into Thursday.
The Philippine Coast Guard said the MV June Aster was carrying 134 people — 117 passengers and 17 crew — when flames broke out around 6:45 p.m. local time while the vessel was en route from Manila to Coron, in Palawan province. Forty-three people had been rescued as of Thursday afternoon, according to Coast Guard spokesperson Commodore Noemie Cayabyab, who cautioned that the casualty figures remained fluid as the search continued.
The ferry sent a distress signal roughly four nautical miles off Coron’s Turda village, but strong currents pushed the burning vessel nearly eight nautical miles from shore before help arrived. Rough weather and heavy swells complicated the rescue operation overnight. By midday Thursday the fire had been extinguished, leaving the ferry afloat but listing, with smoke still rising from the wreckage.
The Coast Guard deployed a cutter and high-speed response boats, joined by a military vessel, other government craft, and private fishermen and volunteers, while also broadcasting alerts to nearby ships and coordinating with coastal communities in case survivors had drifted ashore. Cayabyab said the cause of the fire had not yet been determined and that authorities were working with the ferry’s operator and maritime regulators to gather further details.
